US Stock Market: DJIA, S&P500 and Nasdaq turns green in early trade on Wednesday

Stocks surged significantly during early trade Wednesday after strong earnings from the big companies like Google’s parent Alphabet, Microsoft and Boeing lifted investors’ sentiment. Wall Street is watching for the announcement from the Federal Reserve, which is expected to raise interest rates at the end of its two-day meeting.

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The S&P 500 index was up 43.36 points or 1.11% to 3,964.41 as of 10:06 a.m. Eastern Time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 107.44 points or 0.34% to 31,868.98. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 252.54 points or 2.18% to 11,815.11.

Boeing shares jumped 3% after the aerospace company delivered more planes in the first quarter than it has since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Shares of technology heavyweights Microsoft and Alphabet both surged over 4% after their latest quarterly reports.

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Facebook’s parent company and Ford Motor Co. will announce their results after the closing bell.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve is expected to announce an increase of up 0.75 percentage points in its benchmark interest rate, three times the usual size. Investors are concerned that such aggressive action by the Fed and other central banks in Europe and Asia to control rising inflation might derail global economic growth and lead to a recession.

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Inflation has been the focus of investors’ minds this year. Markets were shocked Monday after retail giant Walmart warned that its profits are being hurt by soaring prices for food and gas, which are forcing shoppers to cut back on more profitable discretionary items such as clothing.

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The retailer’s profit warning in the middle of the quarter is rare and raised concerns about how the highest inflation in 40 years is affecting the entire retail sector.